The Entrepreneurial Spirit: The Gazette persons of the Year

Lisa and Linda Nguyen aren’t the type of restaurants owners who occasionally swing by their eateries to see how things are going.

The Nguyen sisters work at their three Sake Express restaurants three times a week, taking turns spending time in the Gastonia, Belmont and Mount Holly branches.

“I’m usually back and forth — either in the front making sure that the customers are getting what they need to get and also in the back making sure that food’s getting pushed back,” Lisa Nguyen said.

Lisa’s typical day involves getting her two children ready for school, going to work at one of the locations, picking up her kids from school and coming back to work.

It’s a lot of juggling to make sure everything runs smoothly. But Lisa wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I’m a perfectionist, so I know how services have to be,” Lisa said. “I tell my employees, ‘You have to do it this way.’”

That restaurant knowledge comes from years of experience growing up in the business. Their father, Thomas Nguyen, opened the original Sake Express near the intersection of South New Hope Road and East Franklin Boulevard in 1999. Both worked as cashiers and servers as teenagers, and found themselves taking over the family business in 2006 after their father suffered a stroke.

Lisa and Linda now own three Sake Express locations: one in Mount Holly, one in Belmont and a new location on Franklin Boulevard in Gastonia. The sisters said it felt bittersweet to close down the Sake Express that started it all, but they’ve shifted their Gastonia restaurant down the road to East Franklin Boulevard where they have more space and an updated look and feel.

Running successful restaurants takes a lot of hard work, they said.

“Finding good help and keeping good help, that’s one of the toughest things right now,” Lisa said. “And finding good people that you can just trust (is tough).”

The Nguyens aren’t looking to expand right now. If they did, Lisa said she’d probably look at opening a restaurant in the Dallas or Stanley area. But for now, they’re focusing on making sure each of their restaurants runs right.

“We’re just kind of overwhelmed right now,” Lisa said. “We’re just going to focus on making what we have right now stronger instead of investing more time in something else right now.”

Looking back, 2012 has been a good year, she said. Everything went well and as planned. They took on a little bit of debt with the new restaurant, but nothing they can’t manage.

For Sake Express, the sisters’ hands-on approach has spelled success. Being hands-on is also the advice Lisa would give to anyone looking at making a go at the restaurant business.

“You better have a lot of free time, a lot of free time to dedicate to the restaurant. If you don’t have a lot of time, I don’t think it will be successful,” Lisa said. “I really think, for us, for Sake, I think it’s because me and my sister are so hands-on (that we’ve been successful). So definitely, you have to have a lot of time and dedication.”

Bruce Cochrane

By Diane Turbyfill | dturbyfill@gastongazette.com

Bruce Cochrane’s successful year in business combats the old adage that you can’t come home again.

The Lincolnton businessman made a gutsy decision in 2012 when he returned to his roots by starting up a furniture manufacturing business in his hometown.

Cochrane, CEO of Lincolnton Furniture Co., comes from a long line of furniture makers dating back to the early 20th century.

The Cochrane Furniture plant that once employed 1,000 people closed when the Cochrane family sold the business and its new owners moved the operation to China.

Cochrane started up Lincolnton Furniture this year, bringing operations back to the vacant

Lincolnton factory previously owned by his family.

The first year has gone well, according to Cochrane.

“Things are going well. We’ve established a furniture line with different retailers around the country,” Cochrane said. “We have had some difficulties with our startup … there’s always need for additional capital.”

The Lincolnton plant runs on one shift with about 50 employees.

Cochrane said the size of the work force has potential to grow along with demand.

Cochrane said he’s most proud of the quality of the furniture being produced in his family’s former stomping grounds.

When operations moved overseas, manufacturers were attracted to the production because of inexpensive labor. But with the cheap construction comes an inferior product, Cochrane said.

“To buy Lincolnton furniture, you’re buying a piece of the best furniture in the world,” he said.

Lincolnton Furniture also embraces the green approach, according to Cochrane. The process uses sustainable hardwoods with water-based finishes, which are environmentally friendly, he said.

Cochrane said he also sees his company expanding its line — possibly adding the production of upholstered furniture and a variety of construction techniques that could offer a wider range in pricing.

Cochrane said he’s proud to bring business back to his hometown.

His individual business decision is part of a national trend of “reshoring,” a reverse migration of U.S. manufacturers from the Far East to the West. The movement is in response to rising labor and shipping costs in China.

Cochrane’s actions garnered attention from President Barack Obama in early 2012. He met the president during a conference on in-sourcing, and he sat with the first lady during the State of the Union speech.

Cochrane said he’s never voted for a Democratic president, but he was honored by the experience.

“It was very much an honor to have the opportunity to meet the president and the first lady and to visit the White House,” he said.

“Although our politics are different … She was friendly and beautiful, and he was engaging.”

Cochrane said 2012 is only the beginning of what he sees as a leap forward in American manufacturing.

“I think there’s going to be a lot of opportunity for manufacturers in North Carolina. I’m encouraged by that,” he said.

The Eden Group

By Ragan Robinson | rrobinson@gastongazette.com

Two years ago, people had a lot to say about what Mount Holly could be. Today, there’s more talk about what the small town has become.

A country store. A Christmas shop. Unique gifts. Boutiques. A farm-to-table restaurant that joined the small town’s booming dining scene in recent months.

Timing and determination, both from established business owners and first-time merchants, sparked the renaissance Mount Holly has enjoyed in recent years.

Among the driving forces behind the town and its success is Gaston County’s Eden Group.

The investment firm made a bold move in 2010 when it renovated nearly an entire block of downtown’s Main Street.

Now the block is home to Time Flies Country Store, The Farmers Fork and a dance studio that held onto its location through the renovation.

Two women’s clothing stores launched nearby in the last year.

Elsewhere in downtown are the bakery, three more restaurants and a specialty shop focusing on vintage and vintage-looking furniture and other décor.

“We have seen great things come to pass in 2012 in many communities, especially in the Mount Holly area,” says Preston Wilson, a member of the Belmont-based Eden Group.

He is a partner in the new Farmers Fork restaurant. It took the place of Backwoods when that eatery closed after less than a year in town.

And members of The Eden Group are always trying to develop new business relationships, asking questions and looking for insight into what investors hope to create. Members also work to coach and support other business owners.

But Wilson deflects the credit for Mount Holly’s revitalization, saying teamwork among the town’s entrepreneurial community is the real reason for downtown’s success.

“A huge leap for the downtown has been all of the new and old business leaders coming together on a regular basis to rub shoulders and determine how they can work together to show support and promote business as a whole,” says Wilson.

He and his wife, Somer, own William Henry Salon, with its Mount Holly and Belmont locations. Wilson believes the time is right for Mount Holly.

Allison Jones agrees. In June, she opened She Boutique on North Main in Mount Holly. Supply, she says, is following demand.

She sees many of the town’s residents moving there to get away from nearby Charlotte’s traffic and other big-city hassles. And she notices Gaston County residents making Mount Holly home to be closer to Charlotte.

“Then, when you come to Mount Holly, you find the little diamond in the rough that it actually is,” she says.

Wilson also points to the city’s work to improve landscaping, parking and visibility for downtown, as well as an incentive grant that he credits with stimulating existing business and attracting entrepreneurs.